The Dreadful Renegade: A Thrilling Espionage Novel (Techno thriller, Mystery & Suspense)

by Charles Z David

  So she asked Alma "How is your affair with Anwar progressing?"

  Alma's answer surprised her "We no longer work together as he had been suddenly transferred from PINSTECH, but we will remain in contact as before because he was still in Islamabad area".

  Linda didn't want to appear to be too inquisitive about Anwar's new posting and asked "Will Anwar's new job affect our own relationship?"

  Alma said "It should not have any effect because I'll still be spending time with Anwar, as before".

  Linda wondered "Have you seen Anwar recently?"

  Alma said "We spent some time together last night and he behaved as if the great burden that had troubled him lately had been removed. I think it has something to do with a decision that had been made and with his new job as an advisor".

  Linda asked "Whose advisor?"

  Alma recognized her indiscretion and said she didn't know. Linda realized that the atmosphere had changed and patted the seat next to her and motioned for Alma to join her. After holding each other and some tender kisses they moved to Linda's bed and made love. Alma felt that their relationship has gone through another stage and the level of intimacy and mutual trust has risen while Linda felt torn between her lover and her job.

  Alma didn't sleep over claiming she had to tidy her apartment. Linda was glad because she wanted to report the news about Anwar's new posting, to what she was now sure was as an advisor to General Masood in the intelligence services. She knew that it must be significant and related to Nagib and his information although she was uncertain in what way.

  July 23rd, Islamabad

  Rahman had presented Nagib's suggestion that Pakistan should announce that some of its plutonium was missing. General Masood asked Anwar what he thought about this idea, and the physicist replied that it had certain merits, even if the statement was not believed by anyone. He added that the Pakistani government should first deny this and state that no material was really missing and it was only an error of accounting, and after a couple of days admit that some plutonium was indeed stolen and inside cooperation was suspected. They knew that Pakistan had a bad track record after the way the government handled the case of the AQ Khan network a few years previously, but they agreed that as long as denial was plausible it would do no harm to announce that some plutonium was missing. The timing of this announcement was to coincide with the transfer of the devices to the hands of Nagib.

  Two small nukes were manufactured by PINSTECH according to the blueprints supplied by Nagib. Testing them was out of the question because the global networks for monitoring nuclear tests were sure to detect such a test. These systems were operated officially by an organization called CTBTO (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization) but there were other informal monitoring networks operated by different intelligence gathering entities like the American NNSA, the Russians, Chinese and of course by India that was watching what Pakistan was doing with a hawk's eye. Under Anwar's guidance the core of the devices consisted of plutonium as described in the blueprints but it was of a lower grade because there was no super high grade material in Pakistan. General Masood asked Anwar if Nagib wouldn't discover the switch and Anwar told him the famous anecdote about the first atomic bomb of the Soviet Union.

  He said "Stalin appointed Lavrenti Beria, the head of the NKVD (a predecessor of the KGB), to oversee the production of plutonium in the USSR. When the first batch had been produced and purified Beria visited the laboratory and was shown a metallic sphere. He was told that it was plutonium but being ever suspicious he asked how he could verify it. The chief scientist who was head of the project, Igor Kurchatov, told him that plutonium emitted radiation that caused its temperature to rise, and told Beria to touch it and feel the heat. Beria felt the metallic sphere and found that it was indeed hot. He thought for a moment and asked how he could be sure that it wasn't heated in an oven before his visit, but was later convinced that it was genuine plutonium".

  The general laughed and said that it was a nice story but wondered if it was relevant so Anwar told him that when they presented Nagib with the device the only test he would be able to perform without an analytical laboratory would be to feel the temperature of the plutonium core and promised that it would be naturally hot regardless of the quality of the plutonium. When he saw that the general was in a good mood he told him another anecdote. "After Beria was convinced that the plutonium was genuine he consulted Stalin and asked him which scientists and engineers should be awarded medals for the success of the project. Stalin's simple answer was to give medals to those he would have executed if the project failed". The general said that as much as he hated communism and Stalin he had to admit that he was a very practical man.

  Anwar didn't like to be away from his research and his laboratory but had started to enjoy the proximity to the corridors of power and being in the nerve center where important decisions were made. He called Alma and arranged to see her in the evening telling her that he had to go to Karachi on an important mission the following day. Alma, as usual said she would be delighted because they had barely seen each other during the last week. She then called Linda and said she had to cancel their date because Anwar wanted to see her. Linda asked if there was any special reason and Alma blurted that he told her he had to go to Karachi. Linda said that she understood and they could meet the following evening. She immediately called Blakey and informed him of this development. Blakey realized this could be the best chance to find Nagib and Alia in Pakistan and told all his agents to head to Karachi and wait for him there.

  July 24th, Karachi

  Nagib and Alia were excited when Junaid told them that Rahman would arrive with one of the leading physicists from PINSTECH and assured them that they would have some good news concerning the delivery of the two "gifts". The past few days had been very peaceful – they were not aware of the presence of the Iranians or that the North Koreans were desperately trying to find them. Nagib was relieved that the memory stick, or thumb drive, in his pen had not been discovered. He noticed that someone had gone through his laptop computer in search for the files with the blueprints and knew that the hidden files had not been copied because attempts to do so without the correct sequence of passwords would cause the computer to shut down. When Junaid was taking a shower he whispered to Alia that he had expected such an attempt and was grateful to the pimpled youngster in Pasadena for the software protection he had installed in what seemed to be ages ago but was in fact a little more than one month. His pen was in public display in his shirt pocket, as it was at all times, and he used it to write notes or sign for hotel deliveries.

  ***

  Linda arrived in Karachi on a morning flight from Islamabad and joined the meeting of the American agents, not only from the CIA but from all the agencies, that was held in the Karachi office of the largest US trade partner in Pakistan. Naturally it belonged to a defense contractor whose main line of business was to sell US made armaments and spare parts to the Pakistani military. All in all there were about a dozen men and two women chatting and having coffee or sodas when the CIA station chief, George Blakemore, entered the room. Blakey proceeded to explain that their mission was to follow Dr. Anwar Usman and Rahman Chenna when they landed in Karachi later in the afternoon and see if they met with two American citizens, Nagib and Alia Jaber, and if the opportunity presented itself to snatch the Americans and bring them to a safe location. In the old days he would have handed out photographs of all the people concerned but he simply sent the photos to their cellphones. He then divided the agents into two task forces – one section consisting of eight people in four cars was responsible for following the Pakistani scientist and intelligence agent from the airport to wherever they were going and the second group was put in charge of forcibly snatching the couple and included only agents that had diplomatic immunity in case the kidnapping attempt failed and the operatives were arrested. Blakey said that the CIA had received an unconfirmed message that the renegade couple could be in one of the most expens
ive hotels, enjoying life at the expense of the Pakistani taxpayer, or more probably thanks to the US financial aid to Pakistan the American taxpayer was footing the bill. Blakey added that in case the couple could not be captured alive the fallback position would be to eliminate them (what used to be called "terminate with extreme prejudice" in the good old days) and retrieve the files. One of the more intelligent agents asked what would happen if there were copies of these files that they could not recover. All Blakey could say was that they thought it would be counterproductive for Nagib to make copies. The meeting dispersed and Linda found herself in the car with Blakey and another embassy official who drove the car. They headed towards the best hotel in Karachi expecting that the trail would end there or at one of the other up class hotels on the same street.

  Anwar and Rahman were on board a small private jet that belonged to the Pakistani intelligence services. As the plane landed at the Karachi airport they were met by an escort of three jeeps packed with heavily armed members of the elite unit of the Pakistani Special Forces. The drivers turned on their flashing lights and sirens and headed to the hotel in which Junaid and the couple were staying. The small convoy made so much noise and the flashing lights could be seen from miles away so the American agents in charge of following them had no difficulty in doing their job with their eyes closed. On the other hand, the second task force reached the hotel and realized that there was not a chance in hell that they would be able to snatch Nagib and Alia in view of the heavily armed guards. Blakey called off the force, thanked them for their efforts and told them to return to their routine jobs.

  Nagib and Alia were waiting restlessly in the suite when Anwar and Rahman arrived with an armed escort. After a brief introduction Anwar, Rahman and Nagib retired to a corner of the suite and held a quiet conversation. Anwar told Nagib that the two small nukes had been constructed according to the blueprints and they were now in Islamabad waiting for his approval. Rahman said that shipping arrangements were made and added that the Pakistanis expected to receive the other designs after Nagib's inspection. Nagib smiled broadly and said that he appreciated the fact that the agreement had been honored by the Pakistanis and that he would fulfill his part as soon as the devices were in his custody. Meanwhile Alia and Junaid packed all their clothes and were ready to leave as soon as the men finished their little conference.

  The entourage left the suite in which the American couple and Junaid had spent a very enjoyable time. For the couple this was a period of relief that afforded them a feeling of security that they had not had since they left Los Alamos over a month earlier, and both of them realized that once they left Pakistan with the devices, or even without them, they would have to constantly look over their shoulder because a myriad of intelligence services will be after them. As they made their way through the hotel's lobby they were observed by Linda and Blakey who were having coffee in the corner and by the Iranian agents who were sipping tea in the opposite corner. The North Koreans were not in the lobby although one of their agents was parked 50 meters behind the three jeeps. None of the agents bothered to follow the entourage because they had all figured out that they were on the way to the airport for a flight back to Islamabad.

  The group got into the middle jeep and the convoy of three vehicles made its way back to the airport where the private jet was parked with its engines turning. Nagib and Alia accompanied by Rahman and Junaid as well as Anwar and two armed bodyguards boarded the waiting jet. Rahman told the couple that they would be taken to a safe house that belonged to the Pakistani intelligence services and would be discretely taken to see the devices at a hangar in PINSTECH. He said that the dimensions of the devices were small enough so that they could comfortably fit into a standard 29" suitcase of the type that had a rugged hard-sided shell. Rahman said that two such suitcases were ready but the devices would be placed inside them only after being inspected and approved by Nagib.

  Chapter 14

  July 25th, Islamabad

  Nagib and Alia spent a sleepless night in the safe house to which they were taken the previous evening. They were on the second floor of the two storey building and armed guards were placed on the roof of the building, in the lower floor and outside the front and back doors. The reason they had so little sleep was obvious – they now reached the most dangerous stage of their journey to Pakistan, because once they handed over all the designs there was absolutely nothing to prevent the Pakistanis from reneging on the deal and arresting them, or more likely just make them disappear. Alia suggested that they hand over the thumb drive with the files protected by a password and send the password only after they felt safe with the devices on European soil, or far away from Pakistan. Nagib liked the idea but was not sure the Pakistanis would accept this last minute change because of two reasons - they might fear that he would not keep his word and hand over the password and in addition they would feel offended because he didn't trust them and that would be a sign of disrespect. Furthermore, the Pakistanis could be justly worried about the couple's safety in view of the fact that quite a few intelligence organizations were after them, and especially the Americans would not hesitate to eliminate them on sight, so that they wouldn't be able to deliver the passwords.

  In the morning Rahman came to the safe house to take Nagib and Alia to inspect the devices. Once again a convoy of three jeeps manned by armed soldiers was waiting to take them to PINSTECH. Nagib realized that the institute was located in Nilore, which was on the outskirts of Islamabad. On the way to the site Rahman proudly told him that most of PINSTECH's former directors had obtained their doctorates in the West, mainly the UK, US, Canada and Japan, but the current director got his doctorate in nuclear engineering from Peshawar University. They used one of PINSTECH's side entrances and once Rahman showed his ID they were waved through with no further checks. The two escorting jeeps parked near the gate and the jeep with Rahman, Nagib, Alia and the driver who was obviously also from the intelligence services, drove up to a small hangar. As they approached the hangar its doors opened and they drove in and parked by a small cubicle that served as the temporary office. Anwar was already waiting for them there and when they got out of the car he came forth to welcome them.

  Alia noted two standard 29" suitcases in the middle of the hangar and saw that the agent who had driven their jeep was now holding a video camera and recording everything that took place in the hangar. Anwar who was holding a radiation detector led them towards the suitcase. He opened it just as one would open a suitcase with clothes, and placed the detector close to the metal pipe that was strapped to one side of the suitcase. The detector's clicking sound increased a little in volume and in frequency indicating the presence of some type of gamma emitting material. However, when Anwar stepped back a few meters the clicking ceased. Anwar showed Nagib that the reading from the detector was around one count per second (1 cps in scientific jargon) that was pretty much the background level in that hangar. He closed the suitcase and placed the detector so that it touched the suitcase and the reading increased very slightly to 2 cps.

  Anwar looked at Nagib's reaction and said "OK, so you know there is something radioactive in the suitcase, and you know that external radiation is very low, but you probably want to know if there is any plutonium here, don't you?"

  Nagib said "Yes, can you convince me that this is the real thing?"

  Anwar asked him "As a scientist from Los Alamos National Laboratory you have probably heard the story about Beria's visit to the laboratory that produced plutonium".

  Nagib smiled "Of course, I know it. Can I touch the device to feel if it is hot?"

  Anwar responded "By all means, please put on the polyethylene gloves and touch the metal pipe". Nagib adorned the gloves and hesitantly touched the pipe, feeling that it was slightly warmer that the surrounding objects.

  He said "Well, I am sure that you did not heat this pipe before we got here and believe that the heat comes from the decay of some radioactive material. How do I know that it is pluto
nium and not something else?"

  Anwar, who had anticipated a degree of skepticism, signaled to Rahman to bring his laptop from the small office. When the laptop was switched on, Anwar searched the files and displayed a spectrum. He explained that this was a display of the intensity of the signal from alpha-particles as a function of the particle energy, and pointed to distinct peaks that he said arose from alpha-decay of plutonium atoms.

  Nagib studied the spectrum and said "I am now convinced that the material from which the spectrum was recorded was indeed plutonium. I take your word that this material is inside these pipes".

  So in a formal tone Rahman, looking at the video camera, said "Dr. Nagib Jaber, do you formally acknowledge that these two suitcases contain a small nuclear device?"

  Nagib faced the camera and said "I do, and I hope that they were constructed according to the blueprints I gave you."

  Anwar said "I solemnly testify that they were, but with a small caveat – they have not been tested. I would be grateful if you now fulfill your part of the deal and hand over the other blueprints". Anwar then explained to Nagib how to detonate the suitcase bombs and said that it was very simple because the devices did not have a sophisticated Permissive Action Link (PAL) that is installed to prevent unauthorized arming or detonation of a nuclear weapon. Anwar said that all they needed to do was to make sure that the battery pack was fully charged and set the digital timer that was much like the type used on microwave ovens in every modern household.

  Now came the tricky part that Nagib and Alia had discussed the previous evening. He said "I am fully ready to complete the deal as soon as we are out of Pakistan with the two suitcases" and waited for Rahman's reaction.